Since its opening 25 years ago on March 17, 1989, the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery has
presented an extraordinary array of historic and contemporary art with strong Ohio ties.

It seems ironic that, initially, the space at 77 S. High St. where the gallery exists in the
Riffe Center was intended for a much different purpose.

“It was somewhat of an accident that we ended up with a gallery there,” said Wayne Lawson,
president of the Ohio Arts Council from 1978 to 2006.

“We were originally going to move our offices into the building, but then ... (the Ohio Building
Authority) decided to have a child-care center there. I was asked, ‘How would you like to have a
gallery down here?’ and I thought, ‘Why not?’

“It was a golden opportunity to demonstrate to the state the artists we have here in Ohio and to
bring various shows to a space right smack across from the Capitol.”

Ohio is one of only a few states in the nation to devote a substantial amount of
government-building space to the viewing of visual art.

“Because we are operating with state tax dollars, our primary focus is contemporary and historic
Ohio artists — also Ohio curators and collections from state arts organizations,” explained Mary
Gray, gallery director since 1994. “We’ve also engaged in regional and international exhibitions,
but there’s always an Ohio tie.”

Operating on an annual budget of $220,000, the free gallery puts on quarterly exhibitions of
work ranging from modern furniture and quilts, such as the continuing “Quilt National ’13” exhibit,
to vintage Midwestern impressionism and format-pushing photography. More than 15,000 visitors pass
through the gallery doors each year.

The unusual nature of the Riffe Gallery also extends to its programming and the place it fills
within the state’s exhibition landscape.

The Riffe “doesn’t just bring really good shows; they make the arts community connected on a
statewide level,” said Ann Bremner, a former publications editor for the Wexner Center for the Arts
and a longtime fan of the Riffe Gallery.

She praised the Riffe for focusing on the work of the region, both past and present — a
programming area that isn’t consistently addressed by the city’s commercial galleries or large art
institutions.

As an example, Bremner cited the 2010 exhibit “Against the Grain: Modernism in the Midwest.”

“I took everyone to that show. It was a fantastic resource, and it was the kind of show that the
Riffe is uniquely capable of doing,” she said.

“It might not appeal to one of the larger museums; it’s not a blockbuster in a conventional
sense, but it’s more complex and requires more coordination than a smaller commercial gallery or a
community arts center would probably be able to handle.”